Squirrels can be important indicators of local ecology because they are resident in small territories and active year round; they require a range of resources that are also important to many other urban animals; and their populations rise and fall with the same predators and environmental conditions that affect our neighborhood wildlife.

The data gathered from all around the United States, from North Dakota to Texas, from California to New York, will give researchers viable information regarding the health of our urban environments. Submit your squirrel observations through the website, www.projectsquirrel.org, or you can download the free Android and iPhone apps available from Google Play and iTunes.

More information and resources to identify squirrels can be found at Project Squirrel.

The Chicago Academy of Sciences/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Steve Sullivan, curator of urban ecology